A digest of events, trends, issues, ideas and journalism from and about rural America, by the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based at the University of Kentucky.
Links may expire , require subscription or go behind pay walls. Please send news and knowledge you think would be useful to al.cross@uky.edu. Follow us on Twitter @RuralJournalism

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Legality of referendum vote against Pebble Mine project in rural Alaska is under fire

Last month, voters in the remote hills of the Lake and Peninsula Borough in Alaska cast ballots to determine whether a proposed metals-mining project would proceed. By a vote of only 280-246, residents were able to "ban large-scale resource extraction," including mining for gold and copper, "that would destroy or degrade salmon habitat," The Associated Press reports. The legality of the vote is being questioned by the state of Alaska, which filed a lawsuit last Friday to invalidate the vote.

Superior Court Judge John Suddock initially cleared the vote, but is scheduled to address the legality of the vote again on Monday, Nov. 7, Kim Murphy of the Los Angeles Times reports. Lamar Cotten, manager of the Lake and Peninsula Borough, told Murphy that $600,000 to $700,000 was spent to try influence votes, and of even greater concern is whether cities and boroughs have the power to control such activities on state land. (Read more)

The state is suing the borough, claiming the state's authority to govern mineral resources management and development outweighs the vote. "It is about upholding the state's constitutional authority and responsibility to evaluate whether, on balance, development of Alaska's resources is beneficial to all Alaskans," Attorney General John Burns said in a statement. (Read more)

HELP THE RURAL BLOG AND ITS PUBLISHER

Donate online at http://www.uky.edu/GiveNow/welcome.htm?select=CI. Go to the gift-designation box and select "Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues Endowed Fund for Excellence" to give to our endowment; to give to our operating account, choose "Other" and type in "IRJCI operating."

About us: www.RuralJournalism.org

About The Rural Blog

This blog generally follows traditional journalistic standards. It's not about opinions, though you may read one here occasionally. It's about facts that we think will be useful to rural journalists, non-rural journalists who do rural stories, and others interested in rural issues. We don't try to be provocative, so we don't generate as many comments as most blogs with the level of traffic we have, but we certainly invite comments -- and contributions, to al.cross@uky.edu. Feel free to republish blog items, with credit to us and the original source.